bigsky

So many questions....where do we get off at going to the Colesseum? I don't know what time we'll get to the station, so not sure what time to get our tickets for in advance? Our ship docks at 7am. I was thinking of purchasing (over priced) shuttle to the train station so we don't have to worry about walking in the heat. Figuring this might give us some priority to gettig off the ship. ??? 

44 minutes ago, Tlbecker1 said:

You can cancel and get your money back as long as it is 48 hours prior.

Perfect! It went up from yesterday to today. Want to grab to have at least something booked in case our other tour doesn't work out.

We don't normally book thru the ship for excursions. We may for one of our ports to have something. Can we cancel for a refund if we find something else?

Thanks!

1 hour ago, CynBeth6 said:

We were lucky for the regional train from Civi to Rome the train car we got on was not very crowded. But, there was no place to put our luggage we were told by the guy helping us on that we had to leave it near the door and we kept constant watch.

We have no luggage as it’s just a stop off from our cruise ship

15 hours ago, CynBeth6 said:

We arranged transportation with Royal to get to the train station. Once there  it was easy to get the ticket to Rome Termini you have to remember to validate your ticket in one of the green things and then find out which track we had to go down steps to go to the other side. It is a pretty small station.The ride is about an hour and 15 minutes. The train station in Rome is huge. There is a taxi stand as you get out to the left. The HOHO busses have a stop there as well if you decide to do that. The whole route takes an hour and 45 minutes. 

Were u able to sit down on the train? Heard it was so crowded and some have to stand

18 hours ago, mapleleaves said:

Hope you see more activity there !  

 

BTW, we did Rome DIY by train.  Took the train to SPietro (the Vatican stop), then did a combo of walking and taxis to get around to everything we wanted to see.  No time to go inside the sites tho.

For the return trip we left from Ostiense.  We were a group of 4 who had never travelled together so were unsure how fast we'd move in the morning, therefore we didn't buy the train tickets in advance. We bought them at the little convenience store next to the Civi train station.  

Are tickets expensive? Did u have Royal take u to the train station? It’s 25 pp. want as easy as possible at this point

2 hours ago, mapleleaves said:

Have you tried F book?  There will be a group called 'Royal caribbean symphony of the seas', which is public and a few more that are private.  It's easy to join these groups. You'll find an equivalent to the cruisecritic roll call which is also easy to join.  On our cruise last Sept, the Fbook group was way more active and informative than CC RollCall.

Plus pax who had just returned were still posting with their recent experiences which was very helpful.

Just joined 😁 

2 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

This detailed thread at the top of the forum here should have plenty of information about taking the train from Civitavecchia. It's not difficult as a daytripper; more challenging when carting luggage around.

 

 

Thank you! I hope to end up in a group cuz I prefer not to take the train. 

On 7/15/2023 at 1:36 PM, cruisemom42 said:

 

Google maps is your friend here. 

 

I would suggest that if you're planning on doing this on your own (including getting to Rome and back) in a day visit from Civitavecchia, you'll not have enough time for an inside visit of the Colosseum AND a visit to the Sistine Chapel. 

 

The Vatican is not particularly close to the Colosseum, the Vatican is an outlier in terms of most of Rome's key sites being located across the Tiber. However, you can get a taxi (in front of the Colosseo metro station) and take it to the front of the Vatican museum. 

 

Tickets for the Vatican museum are timed, so you'd have to work out all the timings and get the tickets yourself.

 

 

Don’t think I want to chance it. 
Do you know anything about taking the train? Easy from port?

9 hours ago, CynBeth6 said:

I have heard on different message boards I go on about issues with tours that included the Colosseum that they sometimes can’t get tickets and cancel last minute. We actually were there yesterday had gotten ours at the 30 day mark online but as we were waiting to go in were talking to a couple who mentioned that happened so they had to stand in the day of ticket line. Is this a one day port stop from a cruise ship that you are trying to book a day tour for Rome? If possible I would do things on your own. The train from Civi to Rome Termini is a little over an hour. There will be tickets also available 7 days in advance. What else do you want to see in Rome?

Yes cruise ship. Is the Vatican close by? Trevi  fountain is close I think…. 
we need to buy our tickets. May have to take the train. Want to see the Vatican: Sistine Chapel… Colosseum and fountain minimum. Is the other places close by that others visit?  Not sure what needs tickets. I just know I’m freaking out now as I thought this would be done by tour co. They don’t mix groups. Have to have enough people from the ship. 

15 minutes ago, slidergirl said:

that's why I said "if it's absolutely necessary" that they do the tour.

👍

9 minutes ago, slidergirl said:

So pay for it now with the other two...

That’s an idea, but expensive. I will think about that.

21 minutes ago, CGinMTL said:

If you already paid but they are not sure the tour will proceed. You should be able to cancel 

I already paid for another excursion thru them. That’s how I know they don’t take money until they have enough people. I haven’t paid for my other two excursions.

Do most your companies have u buy all your tickets on your own or do they get and u pay them?

Thought I had all this figured out cuz I thought they would take care of it

31 minutes ago, slidergirl said:

Well, if they say they need 2 more, set up 2 more “people “ for your group.  Then, they have to not show up but you still want to do the tour…

I think they have to pay prior to the tour so that wouldn’t work 🥴

8 minutes ago, CGinMTL said:

Not sure what tour operator you booked with. But I would start looking at others 

I used romeinlimo in Italy.

 

Good luck

italy tours....I'm looking now. I have one booked with them that's confirmed. Disappointed about this

1 minute ago, CruiserBruce said:

In other words, you are paying for 4, instead of two.

Why do you do that instead of the two of us?

Does anyone know if the tours already have tickets held for this?? I checked and the underground isn't available, but access to the arena is. Not the time I wanted. Wish I could just talk with them on the phone.

This hasn't been fun for me waiting on them as I usually have all things figured out for our Caribbean cruises months in advance.

52 minutes ago, slidergirl said:

If it’s absolutely necessary for you to do the tour, pay for two ghosts.  

? two ghosts??

21 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Agree...while you check on your Roll Call for someone to join you.

I have. Not many on there.

We booked some excursions about 4 months ago. I have continued to email and they just emailed back saying they need one more couple with the two excursions. Oddly, with me booking so far out and they told me I was the first to book, they still need one more couple?? They are very popular here and have great reviews. My concern is that you need to get tickets to the Colesseum 30 days out and we're liked 28 now. One excursion is Best of Rome Aug 10th and Florence/Pisa the 9th.

I'm not sure if I should try to get the tickets for the Colesseum now, but not knowing what I'm supposed to do if they confirm me on Monday or so.

Just don't want to be left out. Not sure if they messed up and forgot to put us on the list?? People have said here, likely they have many tours already booked and they added another and that's why they need one more couple. They have been very slow to respond to me.

Suggestions?

Thanks!

1 hour ago, marazul said:

Elevator up. Walk down.

Sounds good! Thanks!

26 minutes ago, marazul said:

Are you taking a tour of the SF?  If so, allow 1.5 hours inside the church.  Then add a half hour to get to the park. 

Yes, we planned to do the tower as well.

I was going to purchase tickets for SF and wanted to visit Park Guell afterwards. Wasn't sure how much time to allow us comfortably without being rushed. 

Thanks!

Just booking tickets for the SF. Is the climb up the tower pretty easy and worth it?

Thanks!

1 hour ago, suezyq50 said:

Hope it works out for you.  We loved our tours.  We took 4 total with them last month.

I would guess they have others booked, just looking to fill up another van.  There were a total of 4 vans the day we went.

Well I was actually the first person to sign up. So I’m wondering why I’m still waiting for them to fill up?